Resource Protection Solutions Team Stops Crime in its Tracks

You may never have guessed that canned fruits and vegetables are hot black-market commodities, but in 2001, BNSF customer Del Monte experienced a loss of more than 22,814 cases of canned goods due to theft from rail cars. The total claims value of the loss was almost $300,000 among all of their rail suppliers.

Faced with a desire to provide better customer service, as well as to reduce claims, the BNSF Resource Protection Solutions Team (RPST) has worked for more than a year to reduce by 96 percent Del Monte's Dallas distribution center theft. Total BNSF claims to date in 2003 -- a mere $244.

The RPST began attacking the problem back in January 2002 with a multi-faceted approach. Their first step was to open the lines of communication among all affected groups, including Del Monte, other railroads and Kenco Logistic Services.

Through aggressive multi-location patrols and boxcar inspections to check and maintain the integrity of their seals, BNSF special agents were able to make key arrests and have some success at reducing criminal activity. Initial success was very promising; the number of burglaries dropped from 28 in January 2002 to only five in February 2002.

Over the next few months, the task force found that security seals were still being easily defeated, so a variety of new seals were tested. The chosen seal - the CLIP-LOC, manufactured by security seal manufacturer E.J. Brooks (www.ejbrooks.com) - was put into use in May 2002 with exceptional results that have continued to please Del Monte. Only eight burglaries have been reported so far for 2003 among all Del Monte Dallas distribution rail suppliers, and only one of those was to a BNSF shipment.

As a result of this joint effort not only with a customer, but also other rail services, the RPST has been able to benefit other BNSF customers by implementing the same security techniques and loss-prevention services. "We're not waiting for something to happen. We're planning for the unexpected," says Michael Ingle, BNSF consultant, Protection Solutions.